Geo: 35.4117, 74.1035Next morning we were up with the call to prayer (5 am for those who are not up with the Muslim traditions) and packed up pretty quickly before too many locals worked out we were camped on the edge of their village. Chilas has the reputation for being the last fairly safe area before the troublesome area inhabited by Taliban further south. Chilas was about 109 kms from where we were camped and the road was fairly slow. Although a main road it was not well maintained due to the unrest in the area. Anyway about 70 kms into the journey we catch up to two ute loads of military guys heavily armed. At one stage there was a traffic jam on the road ahead and all of the guys bail out and surround ... read more

Geo: 36.4743, 75.3552We had a lot of fun with the Germans but sadly the day our paths diverged arrived and we bid them a sad farewell. They were going to hike across Glaciers, no doubt the scenery would be fantastic but Darren's theory ...that if it cant be seen through the windscreen then it is just not worth the effort... and hiking clash. point of clarification on why this theory came about... a multi day trek strikes fear into my buggered knees.Anyway Lisa was keen to go Bear spotting in Densaoi National Park so we headed Southeast to Skardu. Pakistan is a complicated country. The Northern region around the Hunza valley is safe and peaceful, theoretically the East is okay as well. The Taliban come across into Pakistan in a place south west of here and ... read more

Geo: 37.8185, 75.3058Karakom HighwayTechnically this road runs from Kashgar to Islamabad. The first five days was in China with our trusty guide, Ami (a man). Best to change the term guide to government approved minder. There was a whole lot of hype around us getting a Chinese drivers licence and having our cars inspected to obtain a licence plate. It seems it was all done for us before we even arrived in China. Hmmm this was probably the first of many situations where the Chinese proved to be a little less than honest. Oh well not to worry we asked our tour company if we could get going a day earlier as Kashgar was not a destination that was really high on our list of things to do. Infact we had planned an evening in the ... read more

Geo: 41.2943, 75.3412Travelled up to Son Kul Lake reportedly the worlds second highest lake. Not too much there except Nomadic Kyrgs living in their Yurts, herds of horses and vast open spaces. To say our camp was a little exposed would be a small understatement. The artic wind blew a gale. One of our neighbours came by after we had set up camp to suggest we would get eaten by wolves if we stayed and we should stay in one of his yurts...Hmmm sounded like a tourist con to us so we decided to stay. No wolves to report in the morning, only horses grazing close to the tent during the night.We spent a couple of nights waiting for the Germans to get their Chinese Visas and car chores done. We met up just before Tash ... read more

Geo: 42.2135, 76.6296Great camp spot on the edge of a large lake. Looks like the sea. We drove in about 20 kms on the dirt and were pretty much on our own except for one local guy who was pretty much smashed the whole time and insisted on speaking to us in Russian. No amount of telling him we don't understand a single word of it was cutting the mustard.Our second night was a bit more interesting. A sizeable storm rolled in overnight and we were grateful to be snugged up on the roof. Lots of thunder, lightening and rain rendered the surrounding mountains bright white in the morning. The sun shone through in the morning, we watched the horses coming down for a drink then packed up. What we did not consider was the fact ... read more